Sorø is a town in Sorø municipality in West Zealand County on the island of Zealand (Sjælland) in east Denmark. The population is 6,996 (2003). Both the municipal council and the county council are located in this city. Sorø, while by no means the biggest city in West Zealand, has great historical value. It was founded in 1161 by Bishop Absalon, later the founder of Copenhagen, and is the site of Sorø Academy (Danish Sorø Akademi). The Academy is an educational institution built in 1140 together with Sorø Klosterkirke, the church where Bishop Absalon is buried and where Margaret I of Denmark was buried (later moved to Roskilde Domkirke, Roskilde).
